Second Arrest Made in Delhi Rape Case

NEW DELHI—Indian police arrested a second man in the kidnapping and rape of a 5-year-old girl, who was held captive for three days in a New Delhi apartment before being rescued last week.

Police arrested Pradip, who goes by one name, late Sunday from Darbhanga in India's eastern state of Bihar, said Rajan Bhagat, a Delhi police spokesman.

ENLARGE

A protester shouted slogans while others ran through a police barricade outside Delhi Police headquarters during a protest in New Delhi, Saturday.
Altaf Qadri/Associated Press

On Friday, the police made its first arrest, also in Bihar state. The suspect
Manoj Shah
—who had previously been identified by the police as Manoj Kumar—had rented the apartment where the girl was held captive. It is not known if the two suspects are related.

Police haven't formally charged either man. A court on Sunday sent the first suspect, Mr. Shah, to two weeks' judicial custody. Police say they intend to charge him with kidnapping, rape and attempted murder. Mr. Shah couldn't be reached to comment.

India Real Time

Police suspect the second man, Pradip, who will be flown to New Delhi on Monday, of acting as an accomplice. Attempts to reach him weren't successful. "During further interrogation, Manoj named Pradip as his accomplice," Mr. Bhagat said.

The case has sparked fresh protests in New Delhi, echoing those that broke out in December after the gang rape of a 23-year-old student on a moving bus. The woman died of her injuries days later, sparking nationwide outrage and drawing global attention to how women are treated in India.

The United Nations Special Rapporteur for violence against women, Rashida Manjoo, was set to start a visit to India for 10 days on Monday to assess the situation. "I believe India is in a unique moment in history to address the issue of violence against women," Ms. Manjoo said in a statement ahead of her visit.

On Sunday, hundreds of demonstrators gathered outside Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's residence and the house of Sonia Gandhi, the president of India's ruling Congress party. Some protesters attempted to cross police barricades outside Mrs. Gandhi's residence. Police detained about 50 people and later released them.

Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, a spokesman for India's opposition Bharatiya Janata Party, which participated in the Sunday protests, reacted strongly to the detentions.

"The government should exercise its power in safeguarding its citizens, not use it against them," he said. "Even a small child doesn't feel safe in the capital anymore."

The child's parents reported her missing on April 15, police said. She was found on Wednesday night locked by herself in an apartment rented by Mr. Shah in east Delhi after neighbors heard her cries, Mr. Bhagat said.

The attack left her with serious internal injuries, but officials at New Delhi's largest state-run hospital on Sunday said she was making good progress. "She is recovering and continues to be under close observation," said D.K. Sharma, the medical superintendent of the hospital, at a news conference. Dr. Sharma added that the girl was conscious.

Mr. Singh said Friday that he was "deeply disturbed" by the case and called on India "to look deep within and work to root out the evil of rape."

The case has raised fresh questions about the police handling of sexual-assault cases. After the December attack, the Indian government vowed to reduce crimes against women. India's Parliament in March passed legislation to overhaul the country's criminal code, instituting stricter punishment for rape cases, and making many other forms of sexual assault and harassment punishable crimes.

Police have been receiving training on how to respond to cases involving women and the importance of promptly registering complaints.

But family members of the child said in an interview televised on NDTV that police were slow to react when they reported their daughter missing.

At a news conference Monday, Delhi police chief Neeraj Kumar admitted there were "shortfalls" on part of local police officials and promised "exemplary action" against "erring police officers who failed to act in a responsible way."

As news of the rape became public Friday, protesters gathered outside the hospital in east Delhi where the girl was initially treated. Television footage showed a police officer hitting a female protester.

"He has been suspended from duty and an inquiry has been ordered against him. We have said time and again that such kind of behavior is not welcome in the Delhi Police," Mr. Bhagat, the police spokesman, said.

Indian news media also reported that the police put pressure on the father not to speak publicly about the rape after the little girl was found. The father told television reporters Friday that police had offered him 2,000 rupees (about $37) in "tea money," a popular euphemism for a bribe.

Mr. Bhagat declined to comment on the allegations until after "proper inquiries are made."

The victim's family couldn't be reached directly.

Meanwhile, the police said they have registered 463 cases of rape in New Delhi this year until April 15, more than double the number reported a year earlier. The jump, according to a report released Monday by the police, was because more people were approaching the authorities to report such crimes as the developments after the Delhi gang rape in December had increased the awareness on woman safety in India.

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